Earth-Like Planets?

Hey Space Bloggers!

After my last post, Erin wrote in about NASA’s Kepler Mission, a space telescope that is searching for Earth-like planets in our galaxy. She heard they found one.

And guess what? She’s right!

Following the Earth around the sun like a friendly puppy dog, Kepler looks for planets in nearby star clusters – that is if you consider a span of 3,000 light years to be nearby!

So far Kepler has found over 1000 possible planets, and confirmed that 15 definitely are planets.

Image credit: NASA/Tim Pyle

And that’s not all!

Just three days ago, NASA announced the discovery of 5 more possible planets; planets that are special for two reasons….

• First, they are about the same size as Earth, and
• Second, they are in the ‘habitable zone’ of their stars.

That means that they get enough light and heat from their stars to form liquid water and maybe even life.

So kids, what do you think…

Is there life out there? Do we share our galactic neighborhood?? Will we one day be holding an intra-solar system potluck???

Check in soon to see what your fellow Earth-kids have to say. Think up your own SpaceBlog nickname and sign on below. Leave a thought, fact, idea, or question for the cosmos…

I’ll be back soon with another SPLOG inspired by your comments; perhaps about the chances of life out there–in the great, distant, darkness of space–beyond our solar neighborhood.